Effects of Continuous Veno-venous Haemofiltration on Plasma Lactate in Critically Ill Patients

Continuous Veno-Venous Hemofiltration (CVVH) can eliminate metabolic products effectively and replace renal function partly. It is widely used in intensive care units (ICUs), especially for patients with acute kidney injury/failure in an unstable hemodynamic status. Lactate is a molecule smaller than glucose, which can pass through filtration membrane freely in CVVH. Therefore, the blood lactate concentrations would no longer reflect tissue oxygenation status in patients with unstable hemodynamic status. However, there is no prospective study evaluated the effect of CVVH on lactate removal in critically ill patients. The influence of different dose of CVVH on lactate elimination is not clear in patients with different level of serum lactate. Our study aimed to find out how the dose of CVVH effects on lactate clearance, and then re-estimate the prognostic value of lactate in critically ill patients with CVVH.